Major Conditions strategy: Call for evidence

Ministerial foreword: Helen Whately

In the past 30 years we have seen extraordinary advances in the health of the nation – many of the conditions that once ended lives prematurely can be managed much more effectively. A combination of new treatments and ways of working, collaboration between professionals and public health interventions have given many people more years of healthier life. This is something that our health and care system should be immensely proud of. There are, of course, still enormous challenges ahead, but these achievements should give us confidence that we can meet them.

As people live for longer, in part thanks to advances in healthcare, public health and society, an increasing number of us live with one or more of the major groups of conditions: cancers, cardiovascular disease (CVD) including stroke and diabetes, musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), mental health conditions and dementia.

Currently in England:

• 5.4 million people live with CVD
• around 8.6 million live with CRDs
• 8.2 million people live with mental health issues

Many of us suffering from one condition also suffer from another. For example, half of people with a heart or lung condition also suffer from an MSK condition.

Tackling the major conditions that drive ill health in England provides an enormous opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people. Reducing suffering from these conditions will not only move us towards our objective of increasing healthy life expectancy by 2035, but also help us to ease pressure on the health system and reduce the number of people out of work due to ill health. That is why my department is publishing the major conditions strategy and launching this call for evidence.

I would like to thank each one of you who responded to our calls for evidence on cancer and mental health last year. I would also like to thank all of you who contributed evidence on dementia and health disparities in the last year. We have listened and your insights will inform both the major conditions strategy and the suicide prevention strategy.

The major conditions strategy will build on government action that has already helped to tackle major conditions and improve health outcomes. This includes work to tackle waiting lists for planned NHS treatments through the elective recovery plan and to improve cancer treatment and survival rates. Thanks to the incredible work of NHS staff, the total number of patients waiting more than 78 weeks for planned NHS treatments has fallen by more than 90% from its peak in September 2021. Cancer checks are up around a fifth compared to pre-pandemic levels and the one-year cancer survival rate has increased steadily from 65.6% for patients diagnosed in 2005 to 74.6% in 2020.

The strategy will also build on the work of the NHS Health Check programme, which helps over 1 million people at risk of cardiovascular disease by supporting these individuals to make behavioural changes and access the clinical care they need to improve health outcomes.

It also complements government work underway including:

• the launch of the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission to speed up the development of new dementia treatments
• the investment of over £113 million to fund research into 4 life sciences healthcare missions – cancer, obesity, mental health and addiction – to unlock the next generation of medicines and diagnostics
• the appointment of Professor John Deanfield as Government Champion for Personalised Prevention, to review how technology, intelligence and data can be used to predict, prevent and diagnose risk factors for CVD
• the commissioning of Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt to consider how the governance and oversight of integrated care systems can best enable them to succeed in their objective to improve health outcomes for their population – the government will be considering the recommendations from the Hewitt Review and the inquiry by the Health and Social Care Committee into integrated care systems as we continue to support local areas to improve health outcomes for patients

I urge you to respond to this call for evidence. By responding, you can help inform the strategy and play a vital role in helping individuals to live longer, healthier and more prosperous lives.

Helen Whately, Minister for Social Care

Find out more here.

online survey here.